Thursday, May 19, 2011

BELTANE to MEMORIAL DAY countdown: Paying $3 for Catherine Malandrino Might Make You Self Righteous

One of the greatest joys of thrifting is to know that, no matter how or why you do it, you are most certainly always beating the system. You are personally telling The Man that he has no power over you, and that you cannot, and will not, be bought and sold. Except on those rare occasions when a tractor beam pulls you in to a Forever 29 and you buy some trendy sweat shop piece of shit that you are not allowed to return once lucidity is regained, and you have to shower to get the guilt off. But aside from those times, beating the system, and nailing those deals to the wall, supplies you with a high that keeps you coming back for more.

The only time the high of nailing a deal gets higher, is when you nail a designer deal. And that brings me to my #7 TOP TANK TOP, this Catherine Malandrino fine-gauge crocheted tank:

Oooohhhh aaaahhhh it's just so PRETTY. You can see in the detail shot below, the knit has this fantastic texture and tiny fancy knit stitch. The crochet-ball trim on the straps and tie is divine, and you can't really tell in the picture, but it has a criss-cross back. All that fashion--real, bonafide, European fashion--for THREE DOLLARS. $3.

And let the gloating begin! This is when you kick back and think, what SUCKERS people are. I mean, are they just dumb? or lazy? or are they dumb AND lazy? Because, shit, whoever paid $250 for this is some kind of sucker. If they weren't so dumb and lazy, they would be smart like me, and thrift it, and pay $3, and tell all of their friends to make them jealous.

Any idiot can pay full price for designer clothes at a department store, but it takes a genius to get the same thing for 98% off.